Visualisation (Level 10) (U01969)

? Credit Points : 10 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : INF-4-VIS

Visualization is a cognitive process using the powerful information processing and analytical functions of the human vision system. It has always been a major factor in scientific progress and now, with the assistance of computer graphics, it extends our vision system from sub-atomic to interstellar dimensions and allows geometric representations and simulations of any multidimensional dataset. The fundamental objective is to acquire new knowledge rather than generating pictures. This is a very practical course and techniques will be illustrated with applications in the scientific, engineering and medical domains. The increasingly important field of information visualisation and visual data-mining will also be covered. Current research topics such as visualisation of real objects and environments, and methods inspired by the visual arts and psychology of human perception will be introduced.

Entry Requirements

? Pre-requisites : Successful completion of Year 3 of an Informatics Single or Combined Honours Degree, or equivalent by permission of the School. There are no formal prerequisites but some knowledge of 3D computer graphics will be an advantage.

? Co-requisites : Computer Graphics (Level 10/11) and Human-Computer Interaction (Level 10/11) are natural components of any visualisation course and they are recommended (but not required) as companion courses.

? Prohibited combinations : Visualisation (Level 10) is a forbidden combination.

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Bioinformatics, (School of Informatics, Schedule O)

Other subject areas

Learning from Data, (School of Informatics, Schedule O)

Vision, Perception and Action, (School of Informatics, Schedule O)

Computer Systems Organisation, (School of Informatics, Schedule O)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 4th year

? Delivery Period : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

First Class Information

Date	Start	End	Room	Area	Additional Information
08/01/2008	16:10	17:00	Room 4.01, David Hume Tower	Central

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Tuesday	16:10	17:00	Central
Lecture	Friday	16:10	17:00	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

- Students will gain an appreciation of different representations of 3D objects and will demonstrate an ability to evaluate these for a given visualisation application.
- For a particular visualisation problem, students will be able to assess the suitability of a given visualisation algorithm.
- Using an object oriented visualisation toolkit, students will be able to develop a simple visualisation application.
- Students will appreciate the structural properties of data and will be able to demonstrate the influence these properties have on choice of visualisation algorithm.
- Students will be required to evaluate different 3D capture methods for a particular object or environment using their knowledge of capture technology.
- Students will be able to create a simple visualisation pipeline for a given problem and will apply this knowledge to the development of a visualisation application.